Florida public schools

[jillio]

Thank you. My kids are 4 & 11 years old.
The only oral-deaf school in Florida has an age limit of 6 years old.

We moved from North Florida to Missouri last year so that the kids could attend
an oral-deaf school and learn how to speak properly.

The Missouri school goes only through " middle school " , and therefore
we will be relocating back to Florida ( South Florida, that is ) in a few years.

What I am seeking is information concerning the Southern Florida
public school system in regards to: speech therapy, reading tutoring, cochlear implant awareness and FM systems.

We don't want to move to a county that lacks these facilities and programs .

Good luck. The majority of public school systems are sorely lacking in resources as well as qualified teachers of the deaf. I suggest you contact the school system on my list closest to where you plan to relocate. They can provide you with that information. A good bi-bi program will also offer speech therapy and remediation in reading skills. But a public, mainstream program that is not specifically for the deaf will not offer you much in the way of supportive services.

 

[Cousin Vinny]

What I am seeking is information concerning the Southern Florida
public school system in regards to: speech therapy, reading tutoring, cochlear implant awareness and FM systems.

We don't want to move to a county that lacks these facilities and programs .

When you do move back to Miami-Dade and enroll your children into your community school, you should request an evaluation if your child has never had an IEP. If your child has had an IEP with MDCPS, then I guess an evaluation isn't necessary.

At the IEP, you can ask for speech and itinerant services for your children at your community schools. I don't know about tutoring, though. Best ask the school personnel about that.

The bottom line is that your deaf children go to the school that they normally would go as if they were not disabled, and that support services come to that school and provide support for your children and the staff/faculty working with your children.

If you want a dedicated Deaf classroom, your options get much more limited, unfortunately. Again, ask around and discuss such options at the IEP meeting.

If you've moved, or will be moving into Region V of MDCPS, you can drop me a private message. I'll see what I can do.

 

[jag]

Thank you. My kids are 4 & 11 years old.
The only oral-deaf school in Florida has an age limit of 6 years old.

We moved from North Florida to Missouri last year so that the kids could attend
an oral-deaf school and learn how to speak properly.

The Missouri school goes only through " middle school " , and therefore
we will be relocating back to Florida ( South Florida, that is ) in a few years.

What I am seeking is information concerning the Southern Florida
public school system in regards to: speech therapy, reading tutoring, cochlear implant awareness and FM systems.

We don't want to move to a county that lacks these facilities and programs .

It's good that you're reseaching before you move. I'd say if you want parental input from that area try the list that Rick mentioned. There may be parents there who can give you their experience in that area. You could also go to yahoo groups and see if there are any groups for FL and deaf education or CI's and education. This list itself doesn't seem to have allot of families with Ci's participating so the chances of finding one in S FL are probably limited. But you do seem to have time to find some answers. Good luck.

 

[loml]

Exactly, dd. I offered comprehensive information, not information biased toward any particular methodology. As this parent did not request information directed toward any specific methodology, it is innapropriate to make assumptions regarding a preference based simply on the fact the the child mentioned is implanted.

jillio - This was a choice you made. Good thing we are all different, otherwise there could have been duplicate posts, taking up loads of server space.

 

[shel90]

Umm.. From what I hear that FSDB may not be up much longer due to Budget. I also heard that they talking about FSDB may move to somewhere in Jax, FL and Flagler College will take over those FSDB Campus. It's just a rumor. FSDB went over the Budget and they cut down on hiring Staffs, Teachers, Dorm Supervisors, Field Trips and everything else has been cut due to Budget. Who knows what may happen in 5 years from now.

That really sucks cuz those Deaf schools did a lot for many of my deaf friends who graduated from there. They said they cant imagine being in an oral only environment struggling to connect with others. If they shut down FSDB, where will all these children go? To public schools where nobody has any idea how to teach them? SCARY!!!!

 

[loml]

floridabound10 -

There is also this website: GreatSchools.net Not sure if it will have exactly what you are looking for, but may provide you with contacts.

 

[flbound10]

Here is a listing of all the programs, public and private, for the deaf in the state of Florida. Perhaps you can contact the ones in your area regarding services and perhaps a parent/mentor program.

FLORIDA
Special Schools or Centers
Residential/Boarding & Day
Florida Schooi for the Deaf& the Biind
207 N. San Marco Avenue
St. Augustine FL 32084
Phone: 904-827-2210
TTY: Same
Fax: 904-827-2598
President: Elmer Dillingham, Jr.
email: dillinghame@fsdb.kl2.fl.us
web: www.fsdb.kl2.fl.us
Day Only
darke Jacksonville Auditory/Oral Center
9857 Old St. Augustine Road, Suite 6
Jacksonville, FL 32257
Phone: 904-880-9001
TTY 904-880-9001
Fax: 904-880-9007
Director: Susan G. Allen
email: sallen@clarke-jax.org
web: CLARKE: School for the Deaf - Center for Oral Education
Charter School-Residential/
Boarding & Day
National Deaf Academy
19650 U.S. Hwy 441
Mt. Dora FL 32792
Phone: 352-735-9500
TTY 352-735-9570
Fax: 352-735-4939
Community Relations Director:
Elena L. Moore
email: emoore@nationaldeafacademy.com
web: www.nationaldeafacademycom
Tampa Bay Academy
12012 Boyette Road
Riverview FL 33569
Phone: 800-678-3838
TTY 866-678-3838
Fax: 813-671-3145
Professional Relations: Troy Newport
email: troynewport@tampa.yfcs.com
web: www.tampabay-academycom
Local Programs
Manatee County Schooi District Deaf/HH
PO. Box 9069
Bradenton FL 34206-9069
Phone: 941-721-2300, x 350
Fax: 941-721-2308
ESH Coordinator: Jeffrey R. Schneiderman
email: schneidj@fc.manatee.kl2.fl.us
Voiusia County Exceptionai Student Ed
1825 Dunn Avenue
Daytona Beach FL 32114
Phone: 386-258-4670, x 52914
Fax: 386-274-3436
Program Specialist, Deaf and HoH:
Cynthia Sears
email: ccsears@volusia.kl2.fl.us
web: www.volusia.kl2.fl.us
Schooi District of Lee County
2523 Market Street
Ft. Myers FL 33901
Phone: 239-337-8367
Fax: 239-337-8654
Coordinator, Communication Disabilities:
Lyn Ferreira
email: LynF@lee.kl2.fl.us
School Board ofBroward County, ESE
600 Southeast 3 Avenue, 9th Floor
Ft. I.auderdale FL 33301
Phone: 754-321-2207
Fax: 754-321-2715
Curriculum Supervisor DHHA'I
Programs: Terry Spurlock
email: theresa.spurlock@
browardschools.com
web: browardschools.com
St. Lucie County School Board
1901 South 11th Street
Ft. Pierce FL 34950
Phone: 772-429-4570
Fax: 772-492-4589
Program Specialist: Traci Wilke
email: wilket@stlucie.kl2.fl.us
web: www.stlucie.ese.kl2.fl.us
Citrus County Schools
1007 W Main Street
Inverness FL 34450
Phone: 352-637-9710
TTY: 352-726-6086
Fax: 352-726-6698
FSE Director: Jean Reed
email: reedj@citrus.kl2.fl.us
Duval County Public Schoois
4037 Boulevard Center Drive
Jacksonville FL 32207
Phone: 904-348-7788
TTY: 904-348-7763
Fax: 904-348-7819
Specialist, Deaf/Hard of Hearing:
Lauren Dehaan
email: dehaanl@educationcentral.org
web: www.educationcentral.org
Dade County Pubiic Schools, ESE
1500 Biscayne Boulevard, Room 407
Miami FL 33132
Phone: 305-995-1290
Fax: 305-995-1760
Instructional Supervisor:
Dr. Deborah Finley
Marion County Public Schoois
1517 S. F. 30th Avenue, Suite 2
Ocala FL 34471
Phone: 352-671-6832
Fax: 352-671-6833
ESE Director, D/HH Program:
Wylene Herring-Cayasso
web: www.marion.kl2.fl.us
Orange County Pubiic Schools
445 West Amelia Street
Orlando FL 32801
Phone: 407-317-3493
TTY 407-317-3915
Fax: 407-317-3451
Sr. Admin, FSE: Jane B. Busbee
email: busbeej@ocps.net
web: www.ocps.net
Hearing Impaired Program of
Bay County
203 N. East Avenue
Panama City FL 32401
Phone: 850-872-4765
Fax: 850-872-4727
Teacher of the Deaf: Kay Hicks
email: hickskk@mail.baykl2.fl.us
Seminoie Co Pubiic Schools
400 E. Lake Mary Boulevard
Sanford FL 32773
Phone: 407-320-0212
TTY: 407-320-0290
Fax: 407-320-0294
Administrator: Kathi Durnford
email: kathi_durnford@scps.kl2.fl.us
web: www.scps.kl2.fl.us
Leon County Schools
2757 W Pensacola Street
Tallahassee FL 32303
Phone: 850-487-7160
Fax: 850-487-7297
Coordinator, HI Program: Maria Deckert
Brevard County Exceptional Education
2700 Judge Fran Jamieson Way
Viera FL 32940-6699
Phone: 321-631-1911x535
TTY: 321-632-7603
Fax: 321-631-3589
Coordinator, Hearing Impaired Program:
Kim Riddle
email: RiddleK@brevard.kl2.fl.us
web: http://www.brevard.kl2.fl.us/
Paim Beach County Schools-D/HH
3378 Forest Hill Boulevard
West Palm Beach FL 33406
Phone: 561-434-8066
TTY 561-434-8653
Fax: 561-963-3866
Program Planner, Sp/Lang/D/HH:
Susan Z. Alex
email: alexs@palmbeach.kl2.fl.us

Thank you very much!

 

[deafdyke]

Hey no plm................. I do have a friend who had a child in the Florida Sped system. She said overall that the Florida sped system isn't that great.
Do you have school choice in Florida? I really do think a good idea would be to see if there are any regional "magnet" programs for dhh students. Those are located at regular schools.............but they have the advantage of having a HUGE number of dhh students. As well as teachers and therapists who are familiar with dhh kids. Like they would have the advantage of working with a speech therapist who is familiar with dhh kids (and trust me general speech therapists don't really cut it all too much) I would contact the School for the Deaf, and see if they know of any really good school districts with the type of program I'm thinking of. That's really the downside of going oral........there's really not too many formal programs for oral kids. However, since your kids have a pretty good educational foundation, they might really do well even in a bi-bi or majority TC program. One risk about doing regular school/regular classes is that they may be able to do the work, but around fourth or fifth grade they may start not doing as well. It's very important to equipt your kids with a full toolbox of tools. That way, they can function in ALL sorts of situtions. One way to equipt them, is by placing them in an appropreate educational sitution. Even a lot of the challenges to the ADA say that people who can function as "nondisabled" aren't covered by the ADA.

 

[jillio]

jillio - This was a choice you made. Good thing we are all different, otherwise there could have been duplicate posts, taking up loads of server space.

What are you talking about?

 

[jillio]

Thank you very much!

You are quite welcome!

 

[deafdyke]

Oh and I gotta say that Florida School for the Deaf, is pretty good even for kids with good oral skills. I know of at least three orally skilled kids who are going there or have gone there. I know that AG Bell makes it sound like all Deaf Schools are ASL using voice off insistutions.............but it varies significently.
There are quite a few Deaf schools that have strong oral programs. As always keep an open mind.